I recently worked with a $500M client company that put a huge focus on people and culture as part of their growth strategy. After holding a series of management off-sites for organizational health, they cascaded their strategic messaging to the employees via emails, playbooks, town halls, and all-hands meetings.
Initially, there was a great deal of excitement about the plan. By 60 days later, there was a great deal of confusion.
The leader had given what he thought were clear directions to his direct reports, but two to three layers down in the organization, there were battles for hiring budgets. They all knew that to achieve their goals, they had to hire new blood into the company. But when they went for approvals on the hires, a CxO was blocking them. He kept saying the budget was tight and they needed to prove there would be a return on each new hire within the first couple months.
That pushback caused a stall. Sixty more days went by and still no hires were made. Three critically important people working for the groups that were supposed to hire more help finally quit. This put the departments in an even deeper hole to grow. The CxO let them know their leadership was weak and they should not be losing people. The plan was communicated and everyone knew the goals. They should be executing.
This story happens at every level of this particular company, and in fact it happens at every level of almost all established companies. Initiatives are set, action needs to be taken, action is attempted but it is blocked with a requirement for more data. Delays occur, frustration sets in. Teams become demoralized. Initiatives fail.
Moving Beyond an US vs. THEM Mentality
Most large organizations struggle with these sorts of challenges due to smothering layers of bureaucracy that simply aren’t present in small startups. Here are three main concerns that recur over and over:
- Corporate Structures Enforce Command-and-Control– The problem with most corporate structures is they foster a command-and-control environment. This leaves good people feeling isolated and disenfranchised if they are not on a team with a good leader. The worst part is that questions intended to drive clarity are too often seen as a threat by weaker managers.
- The Current Planning Approach is an US vs. THEM Model -- Most plans conceived at management off-sites are very well thought-out. The problem is there are ten people at the off-site (US, or management) and many thousands sitting back at the office (THEM, or employees) who need to roll the plans out. The perception is that THEM had no say in the plans. Corporate structures reinforce compliance, not questions. Employees often feel like they are on the outside looking in.
- No One is Smarter than Everyone– Management needs to set the vision and strategy. The current models for doing so are effective via off-sites and strategy planning sessions. But management is not where the real magic happens. The employees will decide – yes, I said decide– whether an initiative with succeed or fail. They will decide whether they believe in it, whether they understand it, whether they will make time for it, and whether they feel it will help them in their goals. They will decide all of this. And this decision will dictate how much effort (if any) they will devote to it in their already chaotic lives.
Tearing Down the Stifling Bureaucracy
If you are rolling out initiatives to people who feel disenfranchised or irrelevant, then your chances for success are very low. But what if US actually asked THEM how to roll out the initiatives? US says we have a plan that will lead to a great future for everyone and explains why. Therefore, THEM needs to tell US how to roll out the plan.
In doing so, US is telling THEM that they matter. US has made THEM an accomplice in the plan. Here are three concrete steps to create better buy-in:
- We Have to Let THEM Break the Current Structure– Politics and command-and-control structures need to be torn down. We need to build cross-departmental teams and shared brainstorming/execution sessions. There is a need to skip levels both up and down in an org, in order to move more quickly.
- We Have to Encourage Questions– Companies have talent at all levels, and thought leadership can come from anyone. Curious cultures are taking over in business. Look at such leading companies as Apple, Google and Southwest Airlines. Their people are not only encouraged to challenge the status quo, it is demanded of them.
- We Have to Make Failure Part of Progress– To be clear, the goal is not to fail. The goal is to encourage THEM to opt-in to initiatives and drive the success of the company by giving THEM some say in the plan. Failure will occur in any innovation process. The key is to fail fast, pivot to a new plan, and move forward with a new approach.
A more curious culture is needed to break the cycle of change initiatives that fail over and over. Give the team some ownership in how management strategies get rolled out. Really listen to their ideas and concerns. Communication needs to flow both ways to drive relevance and engagement, and when you do that, incredible things start to happen.
